Chapter 7

7

Paige's stomach dropped. She tried to channel her father's calm logic, the way he'd approach a complex system problem. What would he do in this situation? The thought of her dad, and all the time they'd lost, brought a familiar ache to her chest.

She could almost hear his voice: "Break it down, Paige. One step at a time."

"Can you disable it?" she asked, forcing herself to focus.

Mason shook his head. "No way to tell. And even then, they'll know we've found it."

Bridger exchanged a worried glance with Tai. "So what do we do?"

"We could go back and put him in the dumpster," Fenn suggested with a grin. "Two birds, one stone."

"Not helping, Fenn," Tai sighed, though Paige caught the ghost of a smile on his face.

Graham leaned against the wall, his expression grim. "We're sitting ducks here. We need to move."

"And go where?" Mason countered. "They'll run us down eventually."

Paige stared at Cody's unconscious form, her mind whirling with possibilities and dangers. Even out cold, he was causing problems. But beneath that was a current of worry.

What had driven him to join the Consortium? And why had he sought her out?

If he'd wanted to capture her or the team, he could have set that up in Croatia. Maybe he did need her help. Or at least he wanted her to believe that. For now.

Suddenly, a thought struck her. Her father's voice echoed in her mind: "Sometimes, the solution is hidden in plain sight."

"Wait." Her voice cut through the team's debate. "Cody was babbling on about a Faraday cage. He wanted to jump into that dumpster in the alley. And the casino vault ... it was essentially a giant Faraday cage, too."

The team fell silent, realization dawning on their faces.

"He knew about the tracker," Tai said, eyes widening.

Paige nodded. "He wasn't trying to lure us into a trap. He was trying to block the signal."

Graham pushed off the wall. "An excellent idea. Let's do this."

Mason ran a hand through his hair, his mind racing. "Okay, we need to think this through. We could try to jam the signal, but without knowing the exact frequency, it might not work."

"And it'll take too much time," Paige pointed out.

Tai jumped in. "What about improvising a Faraday cage? We could use aluminum foil to line a small room."

"That could work," Mason nodded, "but we'd need a lot of foil, and it'd take time to cover everything properly. Plus, his peeps will already know he's here."

"What about water?" Fenn suggested. "I remember reading something about water blocking signals."

Mason shook his head. "It does, but we'd need a lot of it. Like, submerge-Cody-in-a-pool levels of water. Sort of a nonstarter."

"The van," Tai said suddenly. "The utility van has a metal body. If we line the interior with conductive material, it could work as a mobile Faraday cage."

Mason's eyes lit up. "Good thinking, Kaholo." He jogged to the break area behind them, pulling open cupboard doors and rooting through the trash. He rose, grinning, hands full of old fast-food wrappers. Their metallic paper gave off the stench of old fry grease.

Paige swallowed hard, clamping down on the urge to throw up.

"Grab that roll of tinfoil," Mason ordered Fenn. "It's not much, but combined with the van's metal body, it might be enough."

"We need to move fast," Paige said. "The van's a poor conductor. They would have had trouble following his tracks, but now that he's out of the vehicle?—"

"Copy that," Bridger cut in. "Pedal to the metal, guys."

The team worked with focused urgency, transforming the utility van into a makeshift Faraday cage. Mason and Tai lined the interior with tin foil, while Fenn sealed any potential gaps with the used food wrappers.

Mason stepped back, wiping sweat from his brow. "It's not pretty, but it should do the job."

Fenn helped Graham and Bridger maneuver Cody's unconscious form into the dingy van. They settled him on the floor, surrounded by their hastily constructed signal shield. The team piled in after them, squeezing along the edges.

"Alright, where to, Mace?" Fenn asked, sliding into the driver's seat.

Mason furrowed his brow, obviously mentally cycling through his extensive list of safe houses. "Give me a second," he muttered, fingers tapping against his thigh.

"We need somewhere isolated," he thought out loud. "The luxury bunker near Red Rock is too close. The compound outside Boulder City might be compromised ..."

"Tick tock, genius," Graham grumbled from the back. "We're not exactly inconspicuous here."

"What about the compound?" Tai suggested hesitantly. "Redemption Creek's only three hours away."

The team exchanged glances, a moment of longing for their home base passing between them. Paige shook her head firmly. "If the Consortium is onto Cody, that's the first place they'll look. We can't compromise our home turf."

"Agreed," Graham nodded grimly. "So, any other bright ideas, Mace?"

Mason shot him a glare before his eyes lit up. "Cerro Flaco. I bought an old mining town in the mountains east of San Diego. It's four hours south by car."

Tai blinked hard. "You bought a ghost town? I know you're into the cowboy scene, but isn't that a little ... on the nose?"

"That's the beauty of it," Mason insisted. "It's an abandoned silver mining settlement. I bought the whole place through a shell corporation and renovated the old saloon and a couple of houses. State-of-the-art security disguised as rundown buildings, fully stocked, and the old mine watchtower gives us a great vantage point."

"None of which is going to help if the Consortium finds us before we get there," Paige reminded them.

"Agreed." Bridger clapped his hands. "Let's saddle up."

Tai groaned, which made Paige smile.

She hoped she'd have more reasons to do so soon, though she very much doubted it.

Graham jerked a thumb in the direction of Cody's limp form. "Probably we don't need him knowing where we're heading."

Tai shot her a look before nodding. "Copy that. We should give him another injection," he added, sounding unusually tentative.

Bridger watched her quietly.

They had a point. Until she knew which side Cody was really on ...

She nodded sharply. "Makes sense."

"All righty then." Mason cleared his throat. "I'll dose him up."

Less than five minutes later, Paige settled onto the floor of the van next to the unconscious Cody. The familiar planes of his face were both comforting and unsettling. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to his story than met the eye.

"What's going on in that brilliant mind of yours, Paige?" Graham asked softly, noticing her intense focus.

She gestured at Cody's slack face. "I'm going to figure out what he's really up to. This whole situation ... it doesn't add up. The Cody I knew wouldn't have joined the Consortium willingly. There's something we're missing."

Tai leaned in, concern etched on his face. "You think he might still be on our side?"

Paige drummed her fingers on her knee, her brow furrowed. "It's like trying to solve a Rubik's cube in the dark. Every time I think I've got a side figured out, the whole thing shifts."

"So what's your plan?" Mason leaned forward, his voice low. "You're not exactly known for letting puzzles go unsolved."

Paige's lips quirked into a half-smile. "Oh, I'm going to solve it alright. But I might have to break it apart first."

A small, determined smile played at the corners of her lips. She'd do what she did best, analyze every inconsistency in his story. When he regained consciousness, she'd be ready.

No more surprises.

Whatever game Cody was playing, she was determined to win it—for herself, and for her team.